Minutes of the Meeting of the Council of the City of Sheffield held in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield, S1 2HH, on Wednesday 8 January 2014, at 2.00 pm, pursuant to notice duly given and Summonses duly served. PRESENT THE LORD MAYOR (Councillor Vickie Priestley) THE DEPUTY LORD MAYOR (Councillor Peter Rippon) 1 Arbourthorne Ward 10 Dore & Totley Ward 19 Mosborough Ward Jack Scott Joe Otten David Barker Colin Ross Isobel Bowler Tony Downing 2 Beauchief & Greenhill Ward 11 East Ecclesfield Ward 20 Nether Edge Ward Simon Clement-Jones Garry Weatherall Nikki Bond Roy Munn Steve Wilson Anders Hanson Clive Skelton Joyce Wright Qurban Hussain 3 Beighton Ward 12 Ecclesall Ward 21 Richmond Ward Helen Mirfin-Boukouris Penny Baker John Campbell Chris Rosling-Josephs Roger Davison Martin Lawton Ian Saunders Diana Stimely Lynn Rooney 4 Birley Ward 13 Firth Park Ward 22 Shiregreen & Brightside Ward Denise Fox Sheila Constance Peter Price Bryan Lodge Alan Law Sioned-Mair Richards Karen McGowan Chris Weldon Peter Rippon 5 Broomhill Ward 14 Fulwood Ward 23 Southey Ward Jayne Dunn Sue Alston Leigh Bramall Shaffaq Mohammed Andrew Sangar Tony Damms Stuart Wattam Cliff Woodcraft Gill Furniss 6 Burngreave Ward 15 Gleadless Valley Ward 24 Stannington Ward Jackie Drayton Steve Jones David Baker Ibrar Hussain Cate McDonald Katie Condliffe Talib Hussain Tim Rippon Vickie Priestley 7 Central Ward 16 Graves Park Ward 25 Stockbridge & Upper Don Ward Jillian Creasy Ian Auckland Alison Brelsford Mohammad Maroof Denise Reaney Richard Crowther Robert Murphy Philip Wood 8 Crookes Ward 17 Hillsborough Ward 26 Walkey Ward Sylvia Anginotti Janet Bragg Ben Curran Rob Frost Bob Johnson Neale Gibson George Lindars-Hammond 9 Darnall Ward 18 Manor Castle Ward 27 West Ecclesfield Ward Harry Harpham Jenny Armstrong Adam Hurst Mazher Iqbal Terry Fox Alf Meade Mary Lea Pat Midgley 28 Woodhouse Ward Mick Rooney Jackie Satur Ray Satur Council 8.01.2014 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENC E Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Trevor Bagshaw, Julie Dore, Keith Hill, Bob McCann, Nikki Sharpe and Geoff Smith. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INT EREST There were no declarations of interest from Members of the City Council. 3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEETING RESOLVED: On the Motion of Councillor Pat Midgley, seconded by Councillor Gill Furniss, that the minutes of the meeting of the City Council held on 4 December 2013 be approved as a correct record. 4. PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS 4.1 Public Questions (a) Public Question concerning Footpaths, Waterthorpe Gail Smith stated, in relation to footpaths in Waterthorpe, that she had been informed by a local councillor that Amey would be instructed to re-do work to footpaths, which were not of an acceptable standard and were, in places, dangerous. She stated that tenants and residents had been informed that a request had been made to Councillor Scott as the appropriate Cabinet Member, to visit the area. She asked what was being done. Councillor Jack Scott, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene responded by stating that the repairs which had been carried out in Waterthorpe were not part of the key programme of improvement work. He stated that he had not been contacted in relation to Waterthorpe. However, if work was not up to standard then he would examine the issue further. Councillor Scott stated that he would be willing to visit Waterthorpe with the relevant local Councillors for the Mosborough Ward. (b) Public Question Concerning Safeguarding for People with Learning Disabilities Adam Butcher referred to a recent case of a man with learning disabilities who was locked away and starved of food and deprived of basic human rights. He asked what the Council was going to do in light of what had happened and whether protection of the most vulnerable people was a priority. He requested a written response. Councillor Mary Lea, the Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Independent Page 3 of 21 Council 8.01.2014 Living responded that this was a most shocking case and it concerned a very vulnerable person. She stated that the person concerned had been taken into hospital and a safeguarding referral was made, with the man being offered supportive living and temporary housing. He would continue to be offered on- going support. He had been brought to the attention of the City Council by the South Yorkshire Police. Councillor Lea confirmed that she would provide a written response to Mr Butcher. (c) Public Question Concerning Streets Ahead Contract Variation Nigel Slack referred to a decision, which was made by the Leader of the Council on 20 December 2013 concerning a variation to the Streets Ahead contract. He stated that the decision was reported on the Council’s website, but this reveals nothing about what was actually decided about the contract. He stated that what was known is that it was a key decision and was urgent and was made on the basis of a ‘secret report’ and was approved. It was not known what the decision was, the reasons for the decision, other options considered and the reasons for secrecy (except that Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 applied) and there was little information as to why it was urgent. He stated that the decision was not subject to call in and so could not be scrutinised. He asked will the Council, considering that this is a 25 year contract and that the Paragraph 3 can be overcome by declaring the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in maintaining the exemption, give more information about the decision. Councillor Jack Scott, the Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene, responded that the decision related to financing by banks and the special purpose vehicle that delivers the Streets Ahead contract. The advice which was given is that it was not in the public interest or that of the Council or Amey to publish the information. The decision would not have an impact on the quality of the Streets Ahead programme, the jobs which were part of the programme or 5 year timeline to complete the core investment works or the benefits which the scheme delivered for Sheffield. The decision was to ensure that bank financing could continue. The decision was made with the support of the Director of Legal Services and the Chair of the relevant Scrutiny Committee. (d) Public Question Concerning Freedom of Information Requests Martin Brighton asked does this Council ever consider issues such as reputation management and damage limitation to be factors when deciding how to process Freedom of Information (FoI) requests? Councillor Harry Harpham, the Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods and Deputy Leader, responded that, yes, Sheffield City Council has a good track record of managing complex Freedom of Information requests. (e) Public Questions Concerning a Tenants and Residents Association Page 4 of 21 Council 8.01.2014 Martin Brighton asked why has the Council refused to: 1. provide evidence of what BNTARA is accused of; 2. allow an independent auditor to inspect the books; and 3. comply with the FoI Act with these refusals He asked, why has the Council: 1. Not restored the Levy money that he stated is being illegally withheld; and 2. Supported personnel who have admitted breaching their own procedures Mr Brighton asked does the Council consider that all due process with BNTARA is concluded. Mr Brighton stated that with respect to the above, the Council has now conceded that it attempted to both deceive and unlawfully withhold information with respect to proven false Council claims of prior community consultation and consent required for local expenditure, followed by fabricated documents that appeared to elicit endorsement by the local area housing forum and the then area board. He asked why has the Council continued to support the offending personnel, both for what they have done and continue to do, and also for their unlawful breach of the FoI Act. Councillor Harry Harpham, the Cabinet Member for Homes and Neighbourhoods and Deputy Leader of the Council, stated that the Council Housing Service provided a detailed report to the Area Board on the findings of ongoing dialogue with the New Batemoor Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) prior to a decision taken to de-recognise this TARA. The TARA has a copy of this report. Since this time, the Council have responded to all questions raised. He stated that the Council believes it has fully complied with all FoI requests and there is a process in place if people are not satisfied through the Information Commissioner’s Office. A decision was taken to de-recognise based on the inclusiveness of this TARA and also some discrepancy in their accounts in relation to which the Council have consistently asked for their appointed accountant/audit to confirm details. In the end, it was felt that de-recognising the TARA was appropriate and the Interim Director of Housing, following agreement with the South West Area Board, took this action. This was supported by Cabinet Advisor who attended the Area Board meeting and Cabinet Member. The interim Director has confirmed that the decision stands but for the Council’s own purposes would like to carry out its own audit which is being planned. Councillor Harpham stated that the Levy money should be used to ensure that TARAs work across the local community/ area. Given the issues with how this TARA operates and the questions around the audited accounts, suspending the levy money is appropriate and this has been confirmed in writing to New Batemoor TARA. Page 5 of 21 Council 8.01.2014 The Interim Director of Housing carried out an investigation following allegations made against the conduct of the Area Manager and she found that, although some lessons could be learnt in terms of recording/ following procedures, the Area Team had tried to work closely with the TARA over a considerable period to resolve issues in very difficult circumstances and she found no evidence to contradict this or any inappropriate behaviour or conduct.